CHRIS POWELL NAMED HUDDERSFIELD TOWN MANAGER

Huddersfield Town has today appointed Chris Powell as its new First Team Manager.

Powell, who will turn 45 next Monday, was identified as the right candidate for the job after a thorough process by the Board and has put pen to paper on a rolling contract.

Powell guided Charlton Athletic to promotion with a record 101 points in 2012 before immediately leading the team to a top-10 finish with one of the lowest budgets in his debut Championship campaign, with a squad containing many of the players who won promotion from League 1.

The LMA’s 2012 League 1 Manager of the Year, he arrives at Town with an impressive 41% win ratio as a Manager and with further experience as a coach at Leicester City and, most recently, with England’s Under-17s.

A former England international defender, he also gained promotion from the Championship on three occasions on his way to playing over 750 domestic games.

To find out more about Town’s new Manager, click HERE to read a detailed profile.

Huddersfield Town Chairman Dean Hoyle commented:

“We’re delighted to be able to welcome Chris to Huddersfield Town as the new Manager.

“We’ve taken our time over this appointment, as we wanted to give ourselves time to put in the groundwork and ensure we get the right man for the job. We believe we have in Chris.

“As I said when the process began, I felt it was important that we found a Manager who had ‘done it’ and Chris certainly fits that bill. He has ‘done it’ by guiding Charlton to promotion to the Championship and then finishing ninth in the 2012/13 Championship season – all achieved on a limited budget by getting the best out of his players.

“Chris also has an excellent pedigree of developing young players, with the likes of Carl Jenkinson, Diego Poyet, Callum Harriott and Jordan Cousins emerging in Charlton’s First Team under his guidance. That is an important factor in our vision for the Club.

“As a player, a Coach and a Manager, Chris knows what it takes to succeed at Championship level. Alongside his experience with Charlton, he was also promoted out of this division three times during his playing career and has become accustomed to winning.

“We’ve met Chris to discuss the job in two long meetings and both times he has impressed us with his enthusiasm, passion and knowledge of Huddersfield Town and the Championship. He is personally highly motivated and we feel he will get the best from the players. His record demands respect and we think he is the ideal man to take this Club forward.

“Make no mistake – throughout the football industry, Chris is held in extremely high regard. This is an excellent fit with the Club and how we operate.”

Alongside Powell, Alex Dyer will also join the Club in an Assistant Manager role, where he will work with fellow Assistant Manager Steve Thompson, First Team Coach Steve Eyre, Head of Goalkeeping Nick Colgan and the rest of the existing technical staff. Dyer, 49, worked with Powell at Charlton Athletic and played 16 games for Huddersfield Town during the 1997/98 season.